3. Aristotle and Management Consultants’ Ethical Obligations

Aristotle based his theory of virtue ethics on the idea that it is moral and intellectual virtues that lead people to behave well. Moral virtues are character traits that dispose people to behave ethically. The intellectual virtue of phronesis enables them to make good judgements as to how to give practical effect to their disposition. He thought it impossible to define with precision what the ethical course of action would be in any particular situation, so he had no interest in defining specific moral laws. He was concerned rather to set up a target which, if people aimed at it, would enable them to behave better than they otherwise would. Virtue ethics is highly applicable to management consulting. The intangible nature of the outputs of management consultancy work, and the reliance that clients and others, therefore, have to place on subjective impressions in evaluating the performance and behaviour of management consultants, means that the character of management consultants is a central issue in determining whether or not they can be trusted to behave in an ethical manner. Ideas from Aristotle’s theory could go far towards strengthening management consultancy firms’ typical approaches to ensuring that ethical standards are observed.